The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using portulaca oleracea as a source of plant ANTIOXIDANTs for feeding fattening male lambs, on carcass traits, meat quality, and oxidative stability. Twenty-one male lambs with an average weight of 24±1.5 kg and 150±15 days old were fed with one of the experimental rations included a diet without portulaca oleracea as control, a diet containing 7.5%, and a diet containing 15% portulaca oleracea, for 84 days. The muscle (Longissimus dorsi) samplewas used to determine pH, chemical composition, colorimetric properties, and oxidative stability of meat. Meat lipid oxidation was determined after 1, 7, and 30 days of refrigerated storage using thiobarbituric acid (TBARS). The use of portulaca oleracea in diets improved meat color characteristics such as L, chroma, and Hue. The highest ash concentration and the lowest meat moisture were observed in the treatment of 15% portulaca oleracea (P<0.05). Meat pH was the lowest in the first hour after slaughter but did not differ at 24 h. Compared to the control, in both treatment groups feeding the lambs with portulaca significantly reduced the concentration of Malondialdehyde in the meat of the lambs and increased the meat oxidative stability (P<0.05). The results of this experiment showed that feeding portulaca oleracea by improving properties such as color and increasing the meat oxidative stability improves meat quality, which may have lead to an increase in its nutritional value in terms of human health.

This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition, ANTIOXIDANT properties, and antimicrobial activity of Tanacetum balsamita L. essential oil. The essential oil was extracted using the water distillation method, and then the total PHENOLIC content (using the Folin-Ciocalteu method), total flavonoid content (using the aluminium chloride colorimetric method), ANTIOXIDANT activity (using DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging methods), and antimicrobial activity (using disk diffusion agar, well diffusion agar, minimum inhibitory concentration, and minimum bactericidal concentration methods) were evaluated. The total PHENOLIC and flavonoid contents of the essential oil were found to be 29.50 mg gallic acid equivalent per gram and 14.90 mg quercetin equivalent per gram, respectively. The essential oil exhibited significant ANTIOXIDANT activity, with the ability to scavenge 50.40% and 53.55% of free radicals DPPH and ABTS, respectively. According to the results of disc diffusion agar method, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi were the most sensitive and resistant bacterial strains, respectively, with zone of inhibition diameters of 16 mm and 10.50 mm. The zone of inhibition diameters for these bacteria in the well diffusion agar method were obtained as 16.30 mm and 10.80 mm, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration for B. subtilis were determined as 4 mg/mL and 32 mg/mL, respectively, and for S. typhi, they were 64 mg/mL and greater than 512 mg/mL, respectively. According to the results, T. balsamita essential oil can be used as a natural ANTIOXIDANT and antimicrobial agent in food products.

Butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT) is one of the major synthetic ANTIOXIDANTs with a wide range usage. Replacement of artificial ANTIOXIDANTs with natural ANTIOXIDANTs is highly considered. In this research, the ANTIOXIDANT activity of Juniperus excelsa was investigated by using reducing power, DPPH radical scavenging and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Also, the amounts of PHENOLIC and flavonoid compounds were determined. Ethanol extract of Juniperus excelsa was fractionated based on increasing the polarity. The reducing power of ethyl acetate fraction was more than butanol fraction. The IC50 of ethyl acetate fraction (204.3±12.8 mg/ml) was less than that of butanolic (>400 mg/ml) fraction (p<0.0001). The IC50 of standard ANTIOXIDANTs such as BHT and gallic acid were 63.17±0.9 mg/ml and 2.49±0.06 mg/ml, respectively.In inhibition of b -carotene oxidation, ethyl acetate fraction had a remarkable effect (ANTIOXIDANT activity coefficient, ACC=960±20) which was more than the butanolic (ACC=550.7±15.3) fraction (p<0.01). The greastest amount of PHENOLIC compounds (44.5±4.2 mg/g) and flavonoids (0.169±0.005 mg/g) were in ethyl acetate fraction.The results show that, the polar fractions of Juniperus excelsa, especially ethyl acetate, had more ANTIOXIDANT activity.

The massive pomace of Citrus aurantofolia (Christm.) Swingle exhibits a challenging losses exposure difficulty for the processing industries. The resent study was aimed to evaluate the composition and quality of pomace and understand its bioactive compounds to introduce it to different industries such as pharmaceutical, food, medicinal, agricultural etcetera for optimum use. Volatile compounds (VCs) were extracted by water distillation (WD) and Static headspace (SHS) methods. Four different extracts were analyzed for polyphenol compounds identified by HPLC-DAD, total flavonoid content (TFC), total PHENOLIC content (TPC) and ANTIOXIDANT activity. Limonene (71.7%), b-pinene (8.5%), g-terpinene (7.3%), myrcene (1.8%) and a-pinene (1.7%), were the main compounds of essential oil (EO) of C. aurantifolia pomaceby HD extraction. The dominant VCs of C. aurantifolia were limonene (49.3%) followed by b-pinene (21.7%), g-terpinene (9%), a-pinene (6.8%) and sabinene (4.9%), respectively by static headspace analysis. Trans-ferulic acid was major polyphenol compound in all studied extracts of C. aurantifolia marcs. Methanolic extracts from C. aurantifolia pomaces represented higher ANTIOXIDANT activity, TPC and TFC than other investigated extracts. This studied marc can be introduced to different industries as a source of bioactive and medicinal natural compounds because of its valuable phytochemical characterization.

Peel and pulp of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berries contain a wide range of bioactive compounds that may be responsible for their biological activities. PHENOLIC compounds, ANTIOXIDANT capacity and ANTIOXIDANT enzymes of wild grape accessions from the West Azerbaijan province were investigated in different fractions of berries, i.e., peel and pulp fractions. The total phenol (TP) content ranged from 139.29-843.10 and 151.67-416.91 mg Gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per 100 g in the peel and pulp, respectively. The highest level of ANTIOXIDANT capacity and ANTIOXIDANT enzymes activities (Catalase (CAT)and Superoxide dismutase (SOD)) in all the native accessions was observed in peel fraction. Also, principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that genotypic effect is more pronounced toward peel ANTIOXIDANT activity based on 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhy (DPPH) assay and pulp total anthocyanin (TA) of grape berries. The present study displays the potential of native grape accessions studied for improvement of nutritional value through germplasm enhancement programs.